Interesting Cable Size?

[lozarus]

Apologies if this is a bit "sad", or if it's easily answered!

Whilst going about my business I happened across this old reel of RS flex - labelled as "0.15mm SQ 3 Core White".

Obviously far below the minimum accepted size for appliance flex of 0.5mmsq. A part of me thought it may be for internal cabling, when fused down internally, but it doesn't strike me as a control cable and definitely isn't tri-rated or similar - it seems to be exactly what it looks like - appliance flex.

I haven't done any maths, but I assume this would barely be good for 1 amp.

Just for interest it got me wondering if this was ever a common size, or what sizes were previously available. Certainly can't find any reference to it either at RS or elsewhere online.

If this is a waste of your time / boring please feel free to bin this thread off!

 

[Bobster]

Can't really tell from the photo, however it certainly looks bigger than 0.15mm.

You sure the CSA isn't 1mm, as typically 1mm flex is made using 52*strands of 0.15mm in size.

Or, they are used in CCTV wiring I believe. Bit of confusion caused by the colour of the cores I imagine.

 

[Wilko]

Hi - just for fun, my thought is it’s a relatively new cable (from the colours) but wound onto some old reel. I’d only be further guessing, but it looks at least o.5mm squared.

 

[lozarus]

Can't really tell from the photo, however it certainly looks bigger than 0.15mm.

You sure the CSA isn't 1mm, as typically 1mm flex is made using 52*strands of 0.15mm in size.

Or, they are used in CCTV wiring I believe. Bit of confusion caused by the colour of the cores I imagine.

Cheers Rob. Hadn't thought about things like CCTV. Despite having harmonized mains colours, it did cross my mind that it could be for a low voltage or specialist application. Probably not an ideal design however, as it could easily be misconstrued as suitable for mains voltage (in fact in the environment I removed it from, it almost certainly would have been used for this).

Regards the size, the photo makes it look big. The bulk of my work involves flexible cables so it was easy to eliminate it from being anything standard. In my experience, I find some makes of flex have thinner/thicker outer insulation than others - I've actually got some very physically thin 0.5mm on the shelf, and it's far thinner than that. It counts at roughly 20 strands. I'll put it all on the verniers when I get home and post the results to give a more accurate idea of physical dimensions.

Thanks for your reply - as I say, it just seems a bit of an oddity and it sparked my interest!

 

[lozarus]

Hi - just for fun, my thought is it’s a relatively new cable (from the colours) but wound onto some old reel. I’d only be further guessing, but it looks at least o.5mm squared.

Haha thanks Wilko - that's all this is - just for fun!

Indeedidoo - definitley a post 1970 cable. I'm inclined to think it's nearer the 1970's / 1980's end of "modern" purely by the fact it has no writing whatsoever on the cable itself (I tend to find older 'modern' flexes have no BS numbers or such embossed in them)

I'm leaning towards it being a very thinly insulated 0.5mm. Physical dimensions to follow.

 

[davesparks]

Could it just be a typo?

 

[westward10]

That RS part No doesn't exist anymore.

 

[Simon47]

I remember having a small soldering iron that had a very thin flex - far thinner than anythingbelse I've seen. Could it be that smaller flexes ate (or were) allowed whete the design required ? For the soldering iron example, a regular 0.5mm flex would have made it unusable.
Could also be used for linking equipment units together, where the supplying unit provided suitable fusing.

 

[Lucien Nunes]

It's exactly what it looks like... 0.15mm² 3-core mains flex. It was quite popular at the time on small items, such as the soldering irons mentioned but also electronic devices. It was intended to be protected against overload by suitable fusing in the appliance, and against short-circuit by a 3A plug fuse.

Please do not throw it out if you have no use for it!

 

[James]

Rs stopped using that style of packing around mid to late 90’s